OpenRail Day @Paris - Highlights from the first edition

17 December 2025

On December 17, 2025, the OpenRail Association brought together the Open Source railway community in Paris for the first edition of OpenRail Day @Paris.

This first edition laid the groundwork for a new community-driven event dedicated to Open Source railway innovation, focused on collaboration, knowledge sharing and collective action.

Nearly 1.000 Open Source railway enthusiasts took part in:

• live demonstrations of Open Source Railway Designer, Netzgrafik-Editor, LibLRS , DAC Migration DSS and Rail Condition Monitoring OSS,
• technical and strategic discussions,
• collaborative workshops,
• and numerous meetings between railway, digital and open-source stakeholders from several countries.

The program has been featuring high-level keynote speakers who shared their visions and concrete work:

• Jochen Decker outlined common challenges faced by railways everywhere and the potential of Open Source to address them.
• François Davenne highlighted the importance of open collaboration, interoperability, and the role of the OpenRail Association in enabling them through an inspirational Keynote.
• The European Commission (EC Open Source Programme Office) shared its vision on Open Source, interoperability and cross-sector collaboration at the European level, represented by Miguel Díez Blanco and Catalin Moruju.

In a roundtable with Peter Franken (Infrabel), Lucian Balea (LF Energy, RTE France), Fatima Zohra EL Ouerkhaoui (ONCF), Pierre Tane (UIC), Daniel Woithe (DB), and Loïc Hamelin (SNCF), moderated by Amel Charleux (University of Montpellier), the panelists explored:

• The value of Open Source in railways
• Real-world experiences
• Ways to shape the future of open collaboration in the sector

Closing the day, the Community had the possibility to ask questions to all present Directors of the OpenRail Association. The questions ranged from political and economic challenges to technical and organizational ones, always with a focus on how the OpenRail Association can help address them.

We would like to thank all speakers, contributors, partners and participants who helped make this day a success. A special gratitude goes to SNCF and UIC for hosting and organizing this first edition.